Control device for wire feed mechanism



A ril 14, 1959 N. E. SHOCKEY arm.

. CONTROL DEVICE FOR WIRE FEED MECHANISM Original Filed May 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 14, 1959 N. E. SHOCKEY EI'AL v CONTROL DEVICE FOR WIRE FEED MECHANISM Original Filed May 17, 1950 3 Sheets-Shet 2 ATTOl/VIYJ N. E. SHOCKEY ETAL 2,882,361

CONTROL DEVICE FOR WIRE FEED MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3 rrt INVENTOR.

mm m M w 6/ I m a L f w M 4 A Y 5 #8 April 14, 1959 Original Filed May 1'7, 1950 z i 7% 6 a VA/M a United rates Patent O CONTROL DEVICE FOR WIRE FEED MECHANISM Newton E. Shockey, St. Clair Shores, and Howard Wendall Wilkins, Centerline, Mich., assignors to Van Dresser Specialty Corporation, Van Dyke, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application November 17, 1952, Serial No. 320,874, now Patent No. 2,800,151, dated July 23, 1957, which is a division of application Serial No. 162,496, May 17, 1950, now Patent No. 2,648,842, dated August 18, 1953. Divided and this application January 2, 1957, Serial No. 632,216

Claims. (Cl. 200-6113) This invention relates to an improved safety control device for wire feed mechanism.

This application is a division of our application Serial No. 320,874, filed November 17, 1952, now Patent No. 2,800,151, issued July 23, 1957, which in turn was a division of our application Serial No. 162,496, filed May 17, 1950, and issued August 18, 1953, as Patent No. 2,648,842.

The original application related to a machine for fabricating wire reinforced spring liners or the like. The divisional application Serial No. 320,874 related primarily to the wire feed mechanism for the machine of the patent.

The machine of the original application and the mechanism of the divisional application supra were both employed in the fabrication of spring liners. In such fabrication wire is fed through the fabric at suitable intervals. Such wire is severed to suitable lengths and such severed lengths have their ends bent over the longitudinal margins of the fabric strips.

The invention of this application relates to a safety control device which is automatically responsive to buckling of the wire during feeding thereof to throw an electric switch which can be interposed in the electric control circuit for the wire feeding mechanism to break such circuit and interrupt the wire feed.

An object is the provision of a safety control device so constructed and so associated with oil feed mechanism that if the movement of the wire is blocked during feeding, the wire will be caused to buckle at a predetermined place and in such a manner as to automatically operate an electric control switch, which switch may be employed to interrupt the feeding of the wire.

Another object is the provision of a control device of the character described which device may be attached to and form a part of a machine which machine makes use of wire feeding means to carry out its function and which device cooperates with the wire feeding means to arrest the feeding of the wire upon interruption or blocking of the wire feed.

More particularly an object of the invention is the provision of a wire guide having a passageway for feeding of wire therethrough and which guide is provided with an opening through its wall leading into the passageway to expose the wire and which guide has associated therewith an electric switch device provided with actuating means having a part projecting into the opening through the wall of the wire guide and into proximity to the wire passageway whereby blocking of the feed of the wire through the passageway will cause the wire to buckle into the opening and trip that part of the actuating means which projects into the opening to throw the switch.

The control device of this application is adapted to be so associated with a machine employing wire feeding mechanism or wire feeding mechanism itself that blocking of the feed of the wire anywhere within the machine 2,882,361 Patented Apr. 14, 1959 "ice will cause the wire to buckle within the device and trip the switch as hereinafter set forth.

Other objects, advantages, and meritorious features will more fully appear from the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a machine provided with wire feeding mechanism with which our invention is adaptable for use;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a machine assembly of the character shown in Fig. 1 and having wire feeding mechanism provided with the invention of this application;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a part of the wire feeding mechanism shown in Fig. 2 provided with our control switch device of this application mounted thereon;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view through the wire feeding roll mechanism shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view shown on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 1 a machine adapted to be provided with our improved control device is shown. The illustration of Fig. 1 is schematic. Burlap or other fabric 10 is withdrawn from a suitably supported roll 12 and fed lengthwise through the machine. The fabric is drawn forwardly by feed rolls 14 and 16 and passes over a guide roll 18. The fabric is drawn forwardly in a succession of steps which steps alternate with pauses in the forward movement of the fabric.

During pauses in the advance of the fabric a wire strand 20 is thrust transversely through pleats formed in the fabric by pleating means with which the machine is provided. Such wire is cut off into suitable lengths after it has been thrust through the fabric and the ends are bent over the margins of the fabric as shown. The wire is unwound from a roll of wire 22 by suitable wire feeding mechanism indicated generally in Figs. 1 and 2 by the latter W. This wire feed mechanism advances the wire in a step-by-step movement and the intermittent advance of the wire is coordinated with the intermittent advance of the fabric.

Positioned between the wire carrying roll 22 and the wire feed mechanism W there is disposed suitable wirestraightening, wire-holding, and wire-braking mechanism indicated generally by the letter H. Such mechanism forms no part of this invention.

In Fig. 2 the wire-carrying roll 22 is not shown but the wire 20 unwound therefrom is shown at the top of the sheet as entering the wire-straightening and holding mechanism H and the wire feed mechanism is generally there indicated by the letter W. The wire is not shown in Fig. 2 as leaving the wire feed mechanism and entering the machine for insertion through the fabric but that part of the machine which includes the fabric feed is generally indicated in Fig. 2 by the letter B. Our control mechanism is indicated generally by the letter A.

The various mechanisms heretofore referred to which collectively make up the wire machine to which our control mechanism A is attached are mounted upon a table 24. An electric motor 26 is suspended below the table. This motor through driving means 28 drives a Reeves reduction drive device R. The machine is driven through the Reeves device R. This Reeves device R drives a main shaft M which passes directly through the Reeves and drives all of the mechanism which comprises the machine.

The machine generally and the wire feed mechanism particularly is described in detail in our patent and parent application supra and forms no part of the instant invention except to provide the environment therefor. Generally the wire feed mechanism W is supported as shown upon the table 24. The housing for the wire feed mechanism comprises a pair of spaced upright frame elements 30. One of these frame elements is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Such frame element is shown in Fig. 2 as internally cut away to expose operating mechanism supported between the two side frame elements. Such operating mechanism is shown in greater detail in Fig. 3.

Such operating mechanism includes two wire feed rolls 32 which are rotatably supported between the frame elements 30. These two wire feed rolls are similar and they constitute the two upper wire feed rolls. These two wire feed rolls 32 are constantly driven from the drive shaft M by driving connections not here fully shown and which form no part of this application. There is a lower wire feed roll assembly which includes two wire feed rolls 34. These two lower wire feed rolls are adapted to engage the two upper wire feed rolls and grip the wire 20 therebetween as shown in Fig. 3. Each lower wire feed roll 34 is provided with a circumferential groove 36. Each upper wire feed roll 32 is provided with a circumferential rib 38. The ribs 38 of the two upper wire feed tolls fit within the grooves 36 of the two lower wire feed rolls. The wire 20 is held frictionally between the ribs and the bottoms of the grooves to be advanced upon rotation of the rolls all as shown in Figs. and 6.

A stationary wire guide 40 is shown in Fig. 3 disposed between the two pairs of feed rolls. The wire is fed through this wire guide. While the upper wire feed rolls 32 are constantly driven, the lower wire feed rolls 34 are intermittently driven and are also adapted to be intermittently raised and lower to grip the wire against the upper wire feed rolls whereby the wire is driven in a stepby-step manner. The construction and functioning of the wire feed mechanism is described in detail in our patent application supra and such forms no part of this particular invention.

Associated with the wire feed mechanism hereinabove referred to is our control device which includes a sleeve or wire guide tube element 42. A bracket 44 is fixed to one side of the wire feed mechanism assembly by screws or the like as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. This bracket is provided with a seat to removably support one end of the wire guide sleeve 42, the sleeve being held therein by a set screw 46 as shown in Fig. 4.

The opposite end of the wire guide sleeve 42 is supported upon the frame of the machine by a bracket 48 secured by screws or the like to the frame as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. This bracket 48 is cut away as at 50 and a set screw 52 is adapted to be threaded into this cutout to hold the end of the sleeve 42 therein. The sleeve may readily be removed from the brackets by releasing the set screws 46 and 52. This wire guide sleeve provides a continuous passageway of sufiicient size to permit free movement of the wire therethrough but which passageway is not large enough to permit buckling of the wire within the passageway.

The sleeve is provided with a cutout slot or opening 54 therein (Fig. 3). This opening provides the only free space within which the wire can buckle if, for any reason, the advance of the wire is blocked during its feeding. Should the advance of the wire be blocked for any cause during the feeding thereof, the wire will buckle upwardly through this opening 54 in the sleeve. Such opening is shown in the form of a slot of such size as to confine the buckling movement of the wire in a predetermined manner for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

An electric safety switch 56 is supported upon the machine as shown in Fig. 3. Such switch is provided with a 'swing'able switch lever 58 fitted with a roller 60 on its outer end. There is a plunger 62 which has a reduced lower end that projects into the slot opening 54 and rests normally lightly on the wire 20 while permitting the wire to travel freely thereunder all as shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

This slot is of a size so that the reduced lower end of the plunger projects freely within the slot for slidable moveinent therein but it does not leave sufiicient clearance therein for the wire to buckle into the slot without actuating the plunger.

The plunger is slidably supported within a guide 64 mounted upon an upwardly projecting bracket plate 66 of the bracket 44 as shown in Fig. 4. The bracket 44 is provided adjacent to the sleeve 42 with a passageway for the plunger as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The plunger is normally held yieldingly downwardly against the wire 20 by a spring 68. The wire can pass freely underneath the plunger as the plunger is intended to bear only lightly yieldingly upon the wire. The upper end of the plunger is disposed underneath the roller 60 of the switch lever 58.

Upon the buckling of the wire 20 upwardly within the opening 54 of the sleeve, such buckling lifts the plunger 62 and swings the switch lever 58 and trips the switch. The switch may be disposed within the electric control circuit for the machine or for the wire feed mechanism portion of the machine so that the wire feed can be promptly interrupted upon buckling of the wire.

What we claim is:

l. A control device for association with wire feed mechanism comprising, in combination, a sleeve having a wire passageway therethrough, said sleeve having a slot through its wall into the wire passageway, said slot being of suflicient size to permit wire moving through the passageway to buckle into the slot, an electric switch having actuating means including a part projecting into the slot in proximity to the wire passageway and including a yielding means holding said part lightly against the wire traveling through the passageway.

2. A control device for wire feed mechanism comprising, in combination, an element having a wire guide passageway therethrough, said passageway being of sufficient size to permit wire to be fed freely therethrough but not sufliciently large as to permit the wire to buckle within the passageway, said element having a slot extending through its wall and opening into the wire passageway, said slot being of sufiicient size to permit wire to buckle thereinto from the passageway, an electric switch provided with actuating means including a part projecting shiftably into the slot and held yieldingly toward the wire passageway to bear against wire passing therethrough.

3. A control device for wire feed mechanism comprising, in combination, a wire guide element having a wire passageway therethrough, said element provided with a slot through its wall leading into the wire passageway, an electric switch provided with a switch-actuating lever, a plunger slidably supported and having one end disposed to project slidably into the slot in proximity to the wire guide passageway and having its opposite end disposed to actuate the switch lever upon shifting of the plunger within the slot, a spring acting upon the plunger to hold it yieldingly within the slot toward the wire guide passageway.

4. A control device for association with wire feeding mechanism comprising, in combination, a sleeve having a wire passageway therethrough, said passageway being sufficiently oversize the wire to permit free movement of the wire therethrough but insufficiently oversize the wire to permit buckling of the wire within the passageway, said sleeve provided with a slot therethrough leading laterally into the passageway and which slot has a length sufiicient to permit wire moving through the passageway to buckle into the slot lengthwise thereof, said slot having a width insufiicient to permit the wire to buckle within the slot other than lengthwise thereof, an electric switch provided with switch-actuating means having a part projecting shiftably through the slot and into such proximity with the wire passageway as to bear upon the wire and to be actuated by the wire buckling into the slot from the passageway.

5. A control device for association with wire feeding mechanism comprising, in combination, a sleeve having a wire passageway therethrough, said sleeve provided with a slot extending laterally through its wall into the wire passageway, said slot extending lengthwise of the switch-actuating means having a part disposed within wire passageway for a portion of the length thereof and the slot so as to be actuated by the wire buckling into having a length suificient to permit wire moving through the slot. the passageway to buckle into the slot lengthwise thereof,

said slot having a width substantially the same as the I References Cited in the file of this patent diameter of the wire passageway, said wire passageway being sufiiciently oversize the wire to permit free move- UNITED T T S PATENTS ment of the wire therethrough but insnfliciently oversize to permit buckling of the wire within the passageway 568305 Norden Sept 1896 other than into the slot, an electric switch provided with 10 21412324 Crum 1946 

